For Pheme is an Evil Thing
by Momoko17
Summary: Z+D, Part I is done, Part II: Chapter Four is up, deals more with Zidane and Garnet's daughter Lily growing up in this chapter
1. Part I: Prologue

::bows to readers:: So sorry for never updating any of my stories, I really do feel bad! ::dodges various flying objects:: I plan on fixing up and completing as many of then as I can! *^_^* But for now, here's a FFIX fic that I just wrote, I don't think that it will be many chapters long, I'm actually almost done writing it, I think, so expect this one to be completed! *Promise!* I'll put a chapter up every Monday since I made the mistake of typing this on my laptop and I can't access the internet unless I'm in the school building and it's just too much of a hassle to transfer the files to the other computer... ()-_-  
  
This is kind of an inside Garnet's head type of fic, and I added some scenes to the game too. It starts a few days before the ending FMV when Zidane comes back.  
  
Please remember to review and tell me what you think! *^_^*  
  
  
  
-Prologue-  
  
Every morning brought the same scene, and every evening brought the identical as well. The nobles, the heirs, the princes, the men of high stature. Large processions, flaunts of wealth, attempts to win over the people. They all came, and they all went. "Routine," said Rumor, "it's what keeps her alive." Rumor was the only clue that most had of the situation. Their strong-will Queen had grown almost stoic over the past few years. Rumor told the reasons.  
  
"She was in love with a theif from Lindblum."  
  
"I heard he was an actor."  
  
"I heard he wasn't even of this planet."  
  
They whispered.  
  
"That's why she refuses to marry."  
  
Few knew the tale of how a theif fell for a princess, and how the princess fell just as hard back. In the midst of reconstruction, no questions were asked, minds were occupied. Little wondered what had happened. Now that the town was restored, the questions arose.  
  
"Someone told me that she attended a funeral service recently, in secret of course. It wasn't such a secret though, no suitors arrived that day. Everyone knew that she wasn't at the palace."  
  
"Who was is for?"  
  
"It was for the boy who stole her heart."  
  
They all knew about him.  
  
"I was visiting a friend and I saw her there. She was with that Tantalus theatre troupe. They were saying goodbye to one of their star actors. He was only seventeen, such a shame really. Just beginning his life."  
  
They all knew about her.  
  
"Yes, I was there too. Appearently, she couldn't take it anymore and started to scream, 'He's not dead!' over and over. Yelling at them, telling them they didn't try hard enough."  
  
They knew the pain in her heart.  
  
"If you stand by the castle wall last at night, you can hear her singing their song. She still believes that he is alive."  
  
She wished that he was.  
  
"She has to stop being so picky. Royal law states that she has to be married by her 20th birthday. What will they do if she doesn't choose a king? Make General Beatrix queen?"  
  
They laughed.  
  
"No, she'll choose. You know that she will."  
  
It was a choice she didn't want to make.  
  
"Well she better choose soon. Her birthday is in a few days."  
  
She dreaded the date with all her soul.  
  
"Besides, who would want a peasant for a king anyway?"  
  
She did.  
  
  
  
Yeah, yeah, I know it's short but don't worry, there's a lot more to come! Keyword: Prologue, they are almost never very long! *^_~* Please review and please be kind! Thank you! *^_^*  
  
Hugs and Fruitcakes,  
  
Mimi 


	2. Part I: Chapter One

I decided a week is way to long to wait between chapters, I think I'll post on Thursday's too. Thank you to my reviewers Diana and blah, I really appreciate your comments! *^_^*  
  
PS: Some of the dialogue in this chapter and future ones is taken directly out of the game. Any dialogue that you recognize, usually in the flashbacks, is owned by Squaresoft, as is Final Fantasy IX and any characters and events that I haven't created.  
  
-Chapter One-  
  
Rumor started it all.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"And Queen Garnet, my dearest, if you accept my proposal, I shall forever make you happy. I will fulfill your every request! Respond to your every whim! Please, I beg of you, accept my offer." Garnet shifted her eyes away from the window momentarily when she heard the flow of words cease. Breathing out a small sigh, she turned only slightly more forward from her current twisted position. Her current demeanor clearly explained that she wanted out of the chair and into her warm bed as soon as possible.  
  
"I am very flattered by your request for my hand in marriage and I shall keep you in mind. I have not made my decision yet, but be reassured that your visit will be taken into consideration." She stood up, curtsied, and left the room, another tantrum throwing Noble behind her.  
  
"Your highness, please, can't you at least consider any of them?" A strong, pleading voice sounded from behind her. Garnet turned to be face to face with her head bodyguard and most trusted confidante.  
  
"Beatrix, try to understand, this is very hard for me to do."  
  
"But your birthday is in a few short days, your highness, I strongly advise you to at least listen to these men." With a swish of her skirt, the brunette turned her back.  
  
"I'm going to be going to my room now, you and Steiner may have the rest of the day off. Please instruct the rest of the staff that I would like to be left alone for the remainder of the day." Dainty hands gathered up the ruffles of her pastel pink, satin gown as she began to ascend the long stairwell.  
  
"Garnet!" Beatrix called. "This is not healthy! You can't be like this! All you do is sit in your room. Everyone is worried sick about you, I haven't seen you smile since. since." The rustling stopped as she paused on the steps.  
  
"He's coming back to me."  
  
"Garnet, we searched the entire Iifa tree, the surrounding areas, everywhere. There was no trace of him. You just have to accept the fact that he-"  
  
"I will never accept that. He is alive and he will be found." Grabbing more of the ruffles into her hands, Garnet raced up to her bedroom, slamming the door.  
  
"Your highness." A tear rolled it's way down Beatrix's cheek and another soon followed. "I want him to be found as much as you. I hate to see you this way... but it'd be easiest if you would just accept the truth."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Her back hit the door as it slammed, resting against it momentarily as tears overflowed from her eyes. Pulling a string from the back of her dress, the mass fall at her feet. Stepping over it, the distraught queen crawled into the security of her bed. Once safely under her sheets, she moved the single ring from her middle finger to it's rightful place on her ring. She held her hand out away from her face, admiring the simple gold band, turning it making the three, small diamonds each catch rays of sunlight.  
  
"Zidane." She closed her eyes, her mind always drifted to thoughts of him.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Zidane." Garnet pleaded to him with her knowing eyes. Zidane got down on one knee and held her delicate hand into his gloved ones.  
  
"Dagger - I mean, Your Highness. The abduction is over. I can't take you any further.." He bent his head down. "I'm sorry for being so selfish." Garnet felt her eyes brim with tears. She wasn't going to cry, she owed him that much.  
  
"No. You're not being selfish." Placing her other hand over his, she pulled him up to eye level. "You've done so much for us." Her eyes continued to burn. They went downwards. "If it weren't for you, I probably would've led a meaningless life. With you, I was able to see so much of the world and meet so many people. We faced many hardships, too. but." Her chocolate eyes met the clearest green. "I think I finally know what's important." With all the strength she had left, her mouth curved it's sides into a smile. "I'm so fortunate to have met you. I'll never forget our trip together.." One disobeying tear slid down her cheek. "Thank you, Zidane." One hand dropped out of her grasp, though he continued to read into her thoughts through her eyes. He looked almost scared, afraid, timid, like a little boy in a thunderstorm. She had to be strong. for him. "Promise me one thing." He stared more intently into her, as if he was trying to memorize everything about her, so he would never. forget. "Please come back." She searched his face for a reaction, trying to predict his next move. Neither moved their gaze as a ring was slowly slipped onto Garnet's left hand. Words wouldn't form. Her voice stopped working. Nothing could come out. A thousand thoughts ran through her head at once, none of them turning into anything logical. Seemingly satisfied with his reaction, he plastered his trademark grin across his face.  
  
Steiner broke in. "Your highness, we have to go." Garnet nodded in a quickened stagger. Slowly, she walked towards the airship continually glancing back, unable to speak. Zidane stood there smiling at her, his gaze unchanging. The second she stepped onto the ship, it began to leave the ground. She ran through the ship, through the winding corridors and endless steps until she found the balcony. Finally hitting the rail, she looked over the edge and caught his gaze once again. She smiled back at him, leaned forward slightly, and called, "Yes!"  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Her arms rested against the cold marble of her balcony's railing. The bed sheet was wrapped tightly around her figure. She sang her song, their song, the one that would always keep them together. Every night she sang, for when she did, once again Zidane's presence could be there, as if he had never left, as if he were right there singing with her. When she closed her eyes, she could once again hear his voice, see his smile, feel his fingers running through her hair. She remembered everything about him. One finger traced the outline of his face into the sky, like she had many times before. She could almost hear him singing with her, much lower, smoother, and almost sultry. Singing her to sleep.  
  
But he wasn't there.  
  
"Maybe I should just. accept it." The cement iced her back, as she lay down once again. "Maybe I should choose a husband." She put the hand that held ring in front of her once more. "Maybe he really is. dead."  
  
Please remember to review and tell me what you think! *^_^*  
  
Hugs and Fruitcakes,  
  
Mimi 


	3. Part I: Chapter Two

Here's the second chapter on Thursday, as promised! *^_^* Might go back up to the weekly schedule though, hmm. I guess we'll just see how I feel later!  
  
-Chapter Two-  
  
Rumor always knew.  
  
"She's too young. She's not ready to be queen."  
  
Rumor always told.  
  
"Some say that he's all she thinks about."  
  
Rumor loved to expand.  
  
"Don't you think it's romantic in a way? A dramatic tale of lost love!"  
  
Rumor sighed.  
  
"She isn't fit to be Queen."  
  
Rumor smiled.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
There was a loud knocking at the door. Looking around, she noticed that she hadn't moved since last night. The sheet was wrapped around her once again as she walked across the room to open the door. The dimmed golden haired general bowed.  
  
"Your highness, Prince Arcemedion the 3rd of Burmecia has requested an audience with you. Will you accept?" Garnet looked away and sighed.  
  
"If I must."  
  
"I shall inform him that you will be meeting within the hour."  
  
"Thank you Beatrix." And in spite of how horrid Garnet was feeling, she forced a slight smile on her face, for Beatrix's sake. As expected, her face lit up with a returned smile. She bowed again and quickly left the room. Garnet shut the door behind her, keeping the smile on her face. She walked up to the full body mirror and examined the smile, a feeble one at most. She let it slide off her face along with the white cloth that she was holding. Looking herself over completely, she wondered what Zidane ever saw in her. As the words crossed her mind, she felt a breath of words grace her ear. She turned, seeing no one there, but still lost in her own fantasy.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Garnet continued to stare up at the bunk above her. She never would have thought Zidane had troubles of his own. Of course, everyone had their problems, but his were so. so. deep. He was always trying to fix others problems, sometimes going out of his way. But it did made sense. Was he really as carefree as everyone assumed?  
  
He had been so open with her. she was almost. stunned. She wanted to let him know that she was there for him. That he was allowed to have problems. That she would always be there to listen. Without her brain's knowledge, her legs pulled her out of the bottom bunk and found herself climbing the stout ladder to the top bunk. Zidane's fingers were laced through his sandy locks, one knee propped up. His head turned at the sound of movement, a quick look of shock crossed his face before the smile was given.  
  
"Can't get enough of me can you?" A fist lightly met his nearest leg and she smiled back. Crawling up the last leg of the ladder, she sat on her knees at the foot of the bed, obviously made for mages a lot larger than either one of them were. Looking down she kneaded her hands into her lap. "Dagger..?" Zidane cocked his head to the side, knocking a few strands of hair out of place.  
  
"I just." she started.  
  
"Yeah?" He shifted into a more upright position.  
  
"I just want you to know." she fidgeted. "that. you don't have to do everything alone." Summing up all her courage, she looked up. "You're always helping everyone out, being the strong one. I want you to know that I want to be there when you need help.that I will always be here for you." That same look of shock entered his face, but this time, it stayed there. "Zidane?" The nervous princess' hands rested on the bed as she leaned in closer, attempting to decipher his thoughts. Had she said something wrong? The usually sturdy face he had crumbled within seconds and he reached out for her, letting loose, untied hair shield him. Leaning towards him ever so slightly, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She could feel him shaking as he let all the pent up emotions go. Her hand reached behind his head and she held him tighter against her. Confusion and calm ran about her head at the same time and so she did the only thing that she always did when she was unsure. She sang the song. His trembling subsided as he listened to the words she sang.  
  
"I didn't know. there were words." He spoke softly into her hair.  
  
"Neither did I." He leaned back to search her eyes, confusion written all over his face. A slight smile crossed her lips. "I guess we're more alike than we thought. neither of us truly know where we came from." Zidane found her eyes and held her gaze.  
  
She shut her eyes.  
  
He leaned in, and for a moment, their lips touched. He paused, as if he was wondering the same thing that was plaguing her mind. Is this right? Leaning her body forward, he needed no more of a sign and met her halfway. His fingers found the strands of her hair that were falling forward and ran his fingers through, pulling them back into place. They kept pulling each other closer and closer, tasting each other, exploring the regions of their mouths, fulfilling bottled up passions. The two fell backwards onto the bed as Garnet slowly began to undo the buttons on his shirt. When he felt her hands, he broke off the kiss, only long enough to ask, "Are you sure?" Her lips pressed against his once again accompanied by a nod, and he began on the ties on her jumpsuit.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Why do you love me?" Garnet broke the silence and cuddled closer against Zidane, a hand tracing a figure eight onto his bare chest.  
  
"Why don't I love you?" Zidane smiled down at her and kissed her temple. "Dagger, you are perfect. Beautiful, smart, cute and courageous. You are everything. But do you know what I love about you the most?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Your faults." A quizzical glance was shot his way and he laughed. "I love how you are so naïve to the ways of the world. How you will always have that certain royal "air" about you. Or that mole that you have right on-"  
  
"Hey!" She pounded a fist into his stomach. "I thought we weren't going to discuss that!"  
  
"Oh yeah. I forgot." One side of Zidane's mouth curled up in a huge grin as Garnet rolled on top of him and continued to pound on him. He laughed harder and she began to laugh. When he laughed, it made her laugh along with him. Her arms wrapped around him again and she placed her lips on his.  
  
"I love you." She stated.  
  
"I love you."  
  
Damn, a lot shorter than I was hoping. and I'm still not really happy with it, I'll probably do some revisions and post that on Monday, along with chapter three. *Which is already done by the way* I've also come up with some ideas that will make this longer than originally planned, and I'm hoping that I can get it to work! *^_^* Remember to review, comment and constructive criticism are always welcome, just no flames please, I'm a fragile little being. *^_~* 


	4. Part I: Chapter Three

Oh! Long chapter this time! And guess what! Chapter Four is even longer! *^_^* Oh yeah, I'm good. ()-_- j/k For such a non-hyper making subject matter, I'm feeling pretty damn good! Seriously genki me. ::sprouts butterfly wings and skips away::  
  
-Chapter Three-  
  
Rumor continued.  
  
"I heard that she had a child."  
  
"She didn't give birth, but she was pregnant."  
  
They thought they knew her.  
  
"Then what became of the baby?"  
  
"No one knows for sure."  
  
They didn't know what happened.  
  
"She really is irresponsible isn't she?"  
  
They didn't want her to be Queen.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"That seemed to go better, or was I just imagining things?" The general walked through the garden with her queen, who was surprisingly in a better mood.  
  
"No, it went better." Beatrix could hardly contain herself.  
  
"How was he?"  
  
"Not bad, not horrendously good either, but not bad." She thought for a moment before adding, "He was kind of cute, in a Burmecian sort of way." The two women giggled to each other.  
  
"I'm very proud of you your highness. You're doing very well today considering." Garnet raised her hand slightly.  
  
"I'm not going to be sad today, I decided. I'm going to go on, and have a better than normal day. I don't want to think about it."  
  
Of course, for the rest of the day, that was all that was on her mind.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Beatrix, should I be happy or sad?" Garnet sat on the edge of her bed, squished into a compact form.  
  
"Which do you want to be?" Beatrix leaned against the bedpost.  
  
"Happy."  
  
"Then be happy." She stated.  
  
"But I can't do this. what will my people say?" The queen curled up into an even smaller position, pulling her knees against her chest.  
  
"I think you need to stop worring about what the people think for a moment and do something for yourself for a change." There was a silence between the two, each lost in their own thoughts.  
  
"I want to have it. I want to have Zidane and my baby."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Your highness?" A second knock followed by the opening a crack of the door.  
  
"Come in Steiner." The Queen was seated in her chair by the window. The sun shined upon the gems placed on her darkened blue dress, making her look just like the evening sky. As he entered, he closed the door behind him, also removing his head armor. He held the helmet against himself, slowly making his way over to where she was sitting. "We had visitors to the castle, who were they?" He stopped mid-step.  
  
"That's what I came to talk to you about, your highness." She shifted over in her chair to look at him.  
  
"What did they have to say?" The armored man moved uncomfortably, shifting his weight from side to side.  
  
"Your highness." A look of worry crossed his features, immediately followed by Garnet's. She shot up from her chair and questioned him.  
  
"Steiner, what news did these visitors bring?" Steiner inhaled a large breath.  
  
"They were the leaders of the search party from the Iifa Tree." He paused and watched as a range of emotions flew across her face. This was not going to be easy. "They combed the entire area for any trace of Zidane. They found none." Her eyes narrowed and she began to shout.  
  
"What do you mean they didn't find him?! They just haven't looked hard enough!"  
  
"Your highness, please believe me, they have looked as hard as they could, not only we many of our own men sent, but Regent Cid sent as many as he could spare as well. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this prin- your highness, but."  
  
Tears spilled, she knew what his words were going to be.  
  
"They decided to end the search. As of this moment, he has been pronounced dead."  
  
She stood there, her hands balled into tight fists as the salty droplets continuously met with the fabric of her dress.  
  
"Your highness," Steiner bowed. "I am truly sorry."  
  
Voice wavering, she responded. "Thank you Steiner. That will be all." Understanding her need to be alone, he bowed once again, took one last look at her, and exited her chambers.  
  
The knees gave out first as she fell to the ground, her body convulsing with sobs. She wrapped her hands around her stomach in hope that would help reduce the pain she felt. Her heart hurt. The floor quaked beneath her pounding fists, as if she were attempting to break a hole directly through. Her arm soon tired and she lay there, wanting to die.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Beatrix!" Garnet's scream pierced the night sky as she ran down the hallway to the General's room. Her sweating hands slipped on the gold doorknob as she rushed into the room. Beatrix shot out of bed, faster than she had ever had in her entire being.  
  
"You highness what is wrong?!" Both hands were placed on the shoulders of the panicked queen. "What is it?"  
  
"I had been hurting all day. I thought it was normal. I thought I was upset. I didn't think anything of it. But the cramps were getting bad. I thought I'd just sleep it off. I thought it'd be okay, but it's not okay. It's not okay."  
  
"You're not making sense!" Beatrix placed a firmer grip on the hysterical girl. Suddenly, Garnet got strangely calm.  
  
"There is blood all over my bed."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"What am I going to do?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"It's all I had left of him."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I feel so. empty."  
  
"Just cry Garnet, you'll feel better."  
  
"I have to be strong."  
  
"You don't always have to be. Sometimes, it's okay to cry."  
  
The older woman held the girl that felt like her daughter as sobs pierced the silence and began to rack her body. "Why did this happen? What did I do wrong?"  
  
"You did nothing wrong, Doctor Tot said that sometimes when a woman undergoes a severe loss, her body can." She chose her words carefully. ".be unable to carry a child."  
  
"But I was careful." she trailed off, still unbelieving what had taken place over the last few hours.  
  
"There's no way that you can be in control of the situations that happen around you."  
  
"But Zidane's not dead. he promised he'd come back to me." A look of pure sadness overtook Garnet's features. It tugged at Beatrix's heart, she wanted to help her, but she didn't know how. She could only be a voice of reason.  
  
"Garnet." The young queen continued to cry into Beatrix's arms.  
  
"Just let me believe that. just for a little while."  
  
See? I told you it was long! Okay, only long for me, but still long! I hope you enjoyed and if you did, please review! *^_^* By the way, thank you SOOO much to all the people that reviewed! You have no idea how much it means to me! *^_^* If you have a fic, please let me know, I'd love to read it!  
  
Hugs and Fruitcakes,  
  
Mimi 


	5. Part I: Chapter Four

I got a little carried away when I wrote this chapter. ()-_- It's 100 times longer than expected, but who says that's a bad thing? *^_~* I've just got to once again thank all my reviewers and people who e-mailed me, I love you all to death, you are so sweet to me! *^_^* We're getting real close to the end of Part I, then I'll take a little break, maybe, to spit out some more chapters to Part II and then we'll go back to hopefully posting twice a week. I'm determined to finish this fanfic to the end so I promise that I won't abandon it! I can't, it's become like my baby! *^_^*  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX and sadly never will. It is owned by the fantabulous Squaresoft who I worship and have already built my collage major around in hopes of working there! Also, there is once again a section with pieces from the games script it in. I think I forgot to include the website that has the script online last time, so here's the link. http://www.ffwa.org/ff9/script.html  
  
-Chapter Four-  
  
And Rumor builds.  
  
"They told me that she is 'unstable.'"  
  
"Unstable? What do you mean by that?"  
  
"You know, her mind's going."  
  
They didn't trust her.  
  
"The palace is keeping a close watch on her. they're afraid she'll do something rash."  
  
They couldn't understand.  
  
"Rash?"  
  
But they knew everything.  
  
"Suicide."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Happy Birthday to Me." Garnet sang to her self in a sad, cynical tone. She pulled herself up from her now usual position on the marble balcony. Her hands met her face, attempting to remove the traces of dried tears. Last night she had come upon her decision. Her mind had teased the thoughts in front of her, dangling them, taunting her, willing her to give in. The strength she used to have to push these thoughts aside, over time, had gone. She was left with the space now to entertain the thoughts, to let them grow and fester, let them be blown out of proportion. The obstinacy she had once shown against it, lost out. Rumor had won.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Zidane Tribal was a friend to all that knew him." He wasn't dead to her. "We all loved him for hysterical dispostion and ability to make you feel like you meant the world to him." He meant the world to her. "He was always helping others out, he even gave his life to try and help out another, trying to save his brother. How Zidane could think so innocent and naivly was one of his greatest charms. He believed everyone, deep down, was good." She didn't understand. Why was he always helping people? "We will miss him dearly." He's not dead. One by one each of Zidane's loved ones paid their respects by laying a single rose onto his grave. Garnet held onto hers tightly, grasping on so hard that a thorn broke her skin and a small amount of blood was pooling in her palm. That didn't matter though, she was determined to get through this. She could, she would get through this. Crying was unacceptable, she wouldn't do such a thing in public. Each put down the rose they had, a silence was over the group. Eiko put her's down quickly and ran over to Regent Cid and Lady Hilde. They hugged her, but she didn't cry. 'Why can't I be that strong?' Garnet asked herself. 'Why am I always the one who is so weak?' Freya walked up to the empty grave and couldn't bring herself to put the flower down. The Burmecian woman tipped her hat slightly to hide the tears that were coming fast. Two strong arms wrapped arms her and helped her put the flower down. She turned and looked up at the red-headed man.  
  
"Thank you, Amarant." He kept one arm around her. Garnet looked on with awe. 'I didn't know.' Her face was now pressed into his chest, no one was going to see her cry.  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked the woman crying in his arms, showing an affectionate said that no one else had seen before. Freya continued to cry and he stopped walking, to hold her. 'I want that again." Chocolate eyes began to fill with tears, but she quickly shook them away. Steiner, Beatrix, and Quina lay down their roses. I'm going to be strong.' Ruby, Cinna, Marcus, Blank and Baku all proceed to place their roses on the steadily growing bouquet.  
  
The last one to set down her flower was Garnet. She put it on top of the pile, completing it. Her legs wouldn't move away from the scene, they only stood in place, unmoving, her mind completely blank except for a sole thought.  
  
"He's not dead." She whispered to herself. "He's not." Unconciously, her hands held her stomach, thinking about the events of the weeks past. No one knew of it, it was there and gone before even Garnet herself could process the information clearly. Now, she was understanding what was happening. Her life was going on a dramatic downspiral that could only be solved by one thing, Zidane coming home to her. He wouldn't let all this happen to her. He couldn't be dead. He can't possibly be dead.  
  
"He's not dead." She said a little louder to herself. Ruby walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Suga, s'everything okay?" Garnet shook Ruby's kind gesture off of her.  
  
"No, everything is not okay!" Garnet stated sternly to whoever was listening. Ruby looked hurt and backed away, afraid of the queen's uncharacteristic outburst. "How can you all just give up like this?" Her fists balled and tightened. "He can't possibly be dead! He wouldn't leave us like this! He wouldn't leave me alone like this!" Angry tears dripped down her face. "He's not dead! We didn't try hard enough to find him. I know that he's not dead. He can't be. He wouldn't do this to me." She just stood there, looking at the ground, feeling all eyes present on her, but she didn't care. She wasn't alone long though, she was quickly pulled into a comforting embrace.  
  
"We all miss him, your highness." Baku let her continue to calm down. "Zidane was like my son, I can't believe that he's gone either but, you know he wouldn't want us to be sad like this." He laughed, despite the situation.  
  
"But it's so hard. I feel like I lost him twice." After this statement, she began crying harder.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Baku, Zidane and I were going to have a baby." She received many different looks from her friends, most of them indescribable. Baku, for once in his life, became serious. He held Garnet out to look at her.  
  
"You what? How did that happen? Do you realize how young you both are? Did you think about any conciquences?" She looked down at the ground.  
  
"I know we were stupid, we weren't thinking, we weren't careful at all. But I was so happy once I found out. I felt like I still had a part of him with me, like he didn't completely leave me. But I miscarried and now I feel as if I've lost him all over again." She took a large breath in. "He just can't be dead!" She rushed at Baku again, receiving consolance from the man who was nearly her father-in-law. Baku held her, unsure of what else to do in the situation, like a child who needed to be protected.  
  
"It'll be okay." He offered barely excersied kind words. She just cried harder.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The voice pierced right down to her very soul. "He's dead, why don't you just accept it." It wrapped around her body.  
  
"I will never accept it." That was a lie. Her one true love, was dead. "If he's not, then why isn't he here with you, right now?" It was suffocating her.  
  
"He's coming back to me. He promised." Garnet's hand traveled instinctively to the ring on her finger.  
  
"Garnet darling, he's dead. He's not coming back." The voice directed her head up to the stars. "He's there now." That fact absorbed into her mind. He was not coming back to her. "You could be with him too." So she would go to him.  
  
"But what about my people" Her mind track flipped over to her other worry. The voice told her.  
  
"They wouldn't care, you know that." The townspeople didn't think that she was a good enough Queen. "I've told them all about you." She knew what people said about her behind her back. "I've told them all your secrets." The things they whispered when they thought she was out of range.  
  
She would see her closest friends once again, to say goodbye. No, she couldn't leave her friends.  
  
"Are they really your friends, Garnet?" The voices' grasp on her became closer. "Or do they just put up with you, because they have to?" They wouldn't be let on about what she was planning, because the might try to stop her. "They wouldn't try to stop you. They would be relieved." She didn't want to be stopped, she wanted. she wanted. Did she know what she wanted? "You belong with Zidane." Unwillingly, tears formed and spilled over her lids. What did she want? The question continued to nag at her. What did she want? The voice told her. "You want to feel whole again." Yes, that's what she wanted. But how? "Zidane made you whole." She loved him, she only wanted to be with him. "Do you want to join him?" Yes.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
She didn't know how, but she knew when, directly after the performance. She would have to act as normal as possible, if anyone anticipated her actions, it would be all over. It had to be done tonight, before she lost her nerve.  
  
"What the hell am I thinking?!" she exclaimed as she grabbed her head. Why was she thinking this way? What was happening to her sense of reason? Why was she letting 'It' take over her mind? In her frustration, she ran her arms across the top of the rosewood dresser, smashing all of its contents onto the floor. Her legs gave out as she felt herself collapse into tears on the ground. Almost by the will of an unseen force, a small piece of paper floated down and fell onto the ground next to her. She started at it a moment, examining the perfect, but childish, handwriting on the front of the envelope. Her fingers shaking, she opened the letter that she had read countless amounts of times before. She let her eyes take in the words once again, holding more meaning this time than previous ones.  
  
"I'm so stupid." She dropped the letter. "I've already forgotten. Zidane would never forgive me for this." Tilting her head ever so slightly upwards, she muttered a barely audible phrase to a friend that had meant so much to her. The one that reminded her why she had to live. "Thank you, Vivi. for saving me."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I always talked about you Zidane. How you were a very special person to us, because you taught us all how important life is.  
  
"You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help each other and live life to the fullest.  
  
"Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're not alone anymore.  
  
"Why I was born. How I wanted to live. Thanks for giving me time to think.  
  
"To keep doing what you set your heart on. It's a very hard thing to do. We were all so courageous.  
  
"What to do when I felt lonely. That was the only thing you couldn't teach me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves.  
  
"I'm so happy I met everyone. I wish we could've gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday.  
  
"Everyone. Thank you. Farewell.  
  
"My memories will be part of the sky."  
  
Did you like? I hope so! I may or may not be able to post the next chapter on Monday, I have an Anime Workshop *yatta!* that I'm attending this weekend. I've been looking forward to it since last year when they had the first one, and I'm so excited for it! There's going to be a lot of professors and researchers talking about anime, manga, and Japanese culture, plus the wonderfully fun anime screenings in a theatre! *^____^* Nothing ever beats out watching Furi Kuri *FLCL* in a theatre. Nothing. Since I'm already plugging it enough, I'll give the website for information if you want to go, I'm sure they are still accepting people. It's http://www.mcad.edu/anime and it's in Minneapolis, MN. ::squeals with delight:: I'm just a little excited. ()-_- 


	6. Part I: Chapter Five

Somehow, I don't know how, but I managed to choke out a chapter for today. Somewhere inbetween anime screenings, lectures, and the ten hours of sleep that I supposedly maganged this weekend, I got this finished. I had such an ultimate blast at the workshop, and we even got a private screening of subtitled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi *Spirited Away* which shocked the hell out of me because it was just primering this weekend and I was upset that I was going to miss it! *^_^* The lectures they gave were just fascinating and we watched Naussica, parts of Totoro, an interview that one of the ladies had with Miyasaki, some Mamoru Oshii shorts, Abenoshi Magical Shopping District, the new anime from Gainax that was just insane, Yuwara which was some judo shoujo anime that I couldn't figure out, Earth Girl Arjuna, and .hack/sign. It was also fun to know that one of the guys from Anime-Fury.net was there and now Chobits 26 went up on Saturday, go figure! *^_^* I'll stop rambling about it and just get to the story! ()-_-  
  
One last thing: Thank you so much to all my reviewers! I severely adore all of you so much! ::huggles:: Yeah, you are right Sparks, I am really unusually hyper for such depessing subject matter. ::laughs:: I guess that's how I've always been, can't be too serious for too long, I start to laugh after not to long, but I write serious. This is curious and confusing, oh well, I won't try to understand, it's like the Bolivian exchange student says about me, "Women, I never understand them, but you, you more confusing than all women in world. You make no sense."  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FFIX, la di da di da. Includes more dialogue from game, see previous chapter for link. do di do di do. Don't sue me, thanks ever so much.  
  
-Chapter Five-  
  
Queen Garnet Til Alexandros the 17th sat atop her usual perch, her birthday had arrived. She should be happy, but confusion still beat at her brain. Did she really almost do what she thought yesterday? Letting out a sigh, her back slumped slightly. Realizing quickly, she returned to her perfect position. She was the Queen after all and she had to look good for her subjects, no matter how much they disliked the very thought of her. The goal was to give them as little as possible to discuss, a slumped posture can be taken far in the eyes of the townspeople. Her thoughts drifted as the play began. Word was that there was a new actor with the Tantalus group tonight; Garnet was interested in seeing what he could do, mainly, if he was any good or not.  
  
A heavy, jolly man walked onto the stage, giving the introductions to the play. When he had finished, a wink was thrown in the queen's direction, and she gave a smile back, ignorant to its knowing intentions.  
  
"And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Garnet, Lord Steiner, Lady Beatrix. noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers," he finished, "Tantalus proudly presents, 'I Want to be Your Canary.'"  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The tissue she held in her hand already was being put to use. Approaching soon was he saddest, most heartbreaking scene in the entire performance. Marcus would be at the meeting place, waiting for Cornelia to show. Everyone in the crowd knew she wouldn't, including Garnet, but it made her cry every time. Especially now that she knew exactly how Marcus felt. She was still waiting for her own love.  
  
A hooded figure stood alone on the stage, facing the dawning backdrop.  
  
The time for our departure is long past." the sorrowful voice spoke. "Where is Cornelia?" Another man, known as Cinna, ran onto the stage, stopping right in front of the covered man.  
  
Marcus, the ship soon embarks! Board ye the boat alone, and peace could come to both kingdoms, as Blank so said." Marcus stood unmoving. "Speak, Marcus!"  
  
Marcus stayed eerily still. "She told me that she could not live without me." Both heads turned upwards noticing the rising sun. "So, the sun is our enemy, too." The eastern sky grows bright." The cloaked arm gestured towards the sky. "Will we not spread our wings, as yonder birds in joyous flight?"  
  
Cinna cut of Marcus in a frantic manner. "Hark, Marcus! They cannot wait any longer! The ship departs!" The stout man ran off the stage leaving Marcus alone once again.  
  
He paused in silence briefly, lost in thought. The words came out in a disbelieving whisper. "Could she have betrayed me?" Tears began their way down the Queen's face, completely captivated by the performance. "Nay, ne'er would my love speak false. I must have faith!" She shook her head in agreement and dabbed at her eyes. "She shall appear if I only believe!" Marcus faced the light head on. "As the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons!" Garnet's mouth moved along with the words that she knew so well. "I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!" In one swift moment, Marcus whipped off his cloak to reveal not Marcus, but Zidane. "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Garnet leapt out of her seat and leaned over the railing, making sure that what she was seeing was truth. Her mind went completely blank except for one sole thought. Zidane. She ran behind he chair and to the front door where Beatrix and Steiner were guarding. Each had a hand up, barricading the door. Garnet looked at them in disbelief, were they not going to let her pass? Assumptions were quickly defeated as the two guards bowed and opened the doors for her. They each smiled at her as she ran past them, flying down the stairs, attempting not to trip over her long dress. Flinging the castle doors open, the Queen stumbled through the crowd, pushing through the people, trying to get to the stage. A boy unexpectedly knocked directly into her, breaking the chain on the Falcon Claw around her neck, sending it flying. She stared at it briefly, wondering if it would be possible to retrieve it. It didn't take her long to realize that there were more important things than that. Her feet ran onwards, as Zidane was finally in sight. Throwing her crown on the ground, a cry was let out as Garnet leapt into his waiting arms. By the force that created, they spun around and he placed her on the ground. Tear-filled eyes looked up at Zidane as he gave his trademark grin. She continued to cry as she buried her face into his chest.  
  
Baka." she muttered as she hit him on the chest. "Baka. baka." He was hit more forcefully a second time and weakly the third as sobs overcame her. Attempting to calm her, Zidane stroked her hair, pulling her close into him. Neither of them noticed the loud cheering going on behind them. There was only room for the two of them in their world. Garnet pulled back only slightly, removing her hands from around his body and onto both sides of his face, assuring herself that it really was indeed him. Her hands ran down his chin and necking, landing on his chest. He pulled up one of his hands and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. Her eyes closed at his touch and she let herself get lost in him. His thumb ran over her lips , dragging it slowly as she planted butterfly kisses. It ran underneath her chin, tilting her head up slightly. He leaned forward, and she kept her eyes closed and let him capture her mouth. Numbness coated her entire body, drenched in his sweetness. She kissed him back with equal strength, never wanting the moment to end. The crowd continued to cheer louder behind them. Garnet pulled back, for the first time realizing that the entirety of the people of Alexandria were watching her and Zidane. A smile crept up on her downcast face as she blushed. Zidane rested his head against hers and whispered in her ear.  
  
Dagger. I promise I will never leave you again." Those words, they meant the world. Tears started again as she pressed herself tighter against him.  
  
I love you." Everyone around her disappeared again, no one else mattered. She didn't care what they thought, she didn't care what they said, Zidane was all that mattered.  
  
I love you too." The deep voice whispered into her ear. She snuggled into him, a wide smile across her face.  
  
For the first time in years, she felt complete.  
  
I did it! I got to the end of Part I!! ::throws self ticker-tape parade:: I know it may sound like the end, but oh no, it's not! ::cackles evily:: I've still got some more plots up my sleave. Think of this part as background information that you need to know to proceed with the story. I'm so pumped to write the next part, I'm not entirely sure where it is going, but I have a general idea and surprising yourself if half the fun! *^_^* 


	7. Part II: Chapter One

Well after a well needed two-week hiatus, I am back with posting on my weekly schedule! *^_^* Part II starts now and it's going to take more of a different turn than you may think from this chapter... ::cackles:: I'm going to enjoy writing this, I just wish that teachers would lay off me a little more! ()-_- They pile on endless amounts of homework, tests, quizzes, pop quizzes, everything. But my hard quarter will be over in the next two weeks which will leave more time for writing! Yatta! *^_~* Thank you over and over to all my wonderful reviewers who leave me such nice comments! You really know how to feed a girl's ego! *^_~* Second Note: After posting this I realized I forgot to format it! ()-_- So sorry!  
  
PART II  
  
-Chapter One-  
  
She pulled him up against her again. "I can't believe that you're actually here. That this is real... It feels like a dream." Zidane just smiled to himself, continuing to stroke her hair. Reluctantly, she pulled back away from him, grabbing his hand, pulling past the crowd of confused on-lookers, and back through the large doors from which she came. Garnet didn't look where she was going, she watched him as he walked next to her, never letting her gaze move away, afraid that if she looked away for a second, he would be gone. It made a slight blush creep upon his face, how intently she was studying him. At that moment, all she wanted to do was take him back to her room and just be with him again, but for appearances sake, she had to return to her throne. Without a word exchanged between them, they walked up the stairs and with the approving smiles of Beatrix and Steiner, Garnet placed Zidane onto her throne and she crawled into his lap. She snuggled in close to him and he wrapped his arms around his tiny queen. They didn't need words to know how each other felt. They were in love, and that's all that mattered. Seeing that the couple had situated themselves, Baku began the play again.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The play's conclusion found the pair soundly sleeping in the oversize chair. Zidane woke to the loud cheers for the audience, and for a second, unsure of where he was. When he saw the sleeping woman in his arms though, he knew exactly what had happened. Careful not to wake her, he scooped her into a childlike position and carried her. Steiner gave Zidane a nod and directed him to the Queen's room. The two walked in near silence, neither quite knowing what to say to each other.  
  
"She really missed you." The knight finally spoke up. Zidane, torn away from his thoughts, jumped slightly.  
  
"I missed her too... Y'know, that saying's right, you never realize what you have until you lose it." Silence fell over them again, each attending to their own thoughts.  
  
"Take care of her okay?"  
  
Zidane smiled. "Of course." They walked into the bedroom and Zidane lay her down. "I'm regrettably going to ask you to not stay with her the night. I can't allow that without the Queen's direct consult, even if I assume it would be alright." The blonde man gave a sorrowful nod.  
  
"Don't worry, I understand." With one last glance, they left the bedroom. Once the doors were shut, Zidane asked, "Is there anything I can do?" Steiner shook his head.  
  
"No, that's alright, Beatrix will be up here shortly to change her, once her highness is asleep, that's it. She's usually a very deep sleeper."  
  
"I see."  
  
"You can stay in the guestroom over there." Steiner pointed to a door nearby. "I don't know if it's entirely fixed up yet, but it's the closet one to her highness so I thought..." Zidane patted Steiner on the shoulder.  
  
"Thanks, really." He went off in the direction of the room, figuring he'd get some well-needed shut-eye.  
  
"Oh Zidane," He turned back around when he heard his name being called. "It's good to have you back." Zidane just grinned.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A lone shadow made its way across the open hallway leading to the Queen's chambers. It looked once, twice each way, to make sure he wouldn't be spotted. He pulled a ruddy lock of hair out of his face to see around the corner. His tail pulled him quickly and silently to the other side, past the sleeping rusty knight. The thief scoffed. 'Some royal guard you are...' With ease, he slid between the doors, not a sound was heard. As silent as possible, he shut the door with a light click and his heart stopped. Her beauty never ceased to amaze him. For a few moments, he just looked at her, wondering how it was possible that she could be his. Regaining his ability to breathe, he took a step forward, and tripped over his own shoe. The force sent him flying forward, making a few soft booms, but caught himself before damage could be done or awoken. Carefully this time, he walked over to the bed and climbed onto the other side, turned to face her. 'She's so gorgeous...' She was curled onto her side, arms bent in front of her. Zidane rested his own head next to her pillow and watched her sleep. A grin spread across his face as he circled his mouth and let out a small bit of air. Garnet's nose scrunched up slightly, otherwise barely affected by the movement. 'I really shouldn't wake her...' Zidane watched her for a second more. 'But I think I'm going to anyway.' He blew on her a little harder this time. Surprisingly, her eyes tentatively opened, shut quick and opened large again as her body lurched in fright.  
  
"Oh, Zidane, you scared me." She placed a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart. He laughed to himself.  
  
"Sorry about that..." A sternly playful look crossed her face.  
  
"No, you aren't."  
  
He continued to laugh. "You're right, I'm not."  
  
Moving closer, she snuggled her body close into his, wrapping her arms across his back.  
  
"What are you doing here at such an ungodly hour?" She asked playfully. He pulled just far enough away from her to bap her nose with his finger.  
  
"I see that you still kinda sound like me, not as 'royal like' as you used to be."  
  
She laughed. "Shut. Up."  
  
"No."  
  
"No?" An eyebrow rose.  
  
"No." Garnet, in a very respectable manner, stuck her tongue out at her thief. Unable to hold back for a second longer, Zidane pressed his lips against hers and was met with an equally as urgent message back. Her tongue slid gently into his welcoming mouth, dancing together and intertwining. His hands ran up and down her back, sneaking underneath the thin white night shirt to feel her skin. One hand was held behind his head, pulling him deeper into her with every passing moment. 'I can't do this. It won't happen again.' Quickly, Garnet let go and moved backwards, eager to catch her breath. They both sat there panting, staring into each other. Zidane leaned in again to start again, but Garnet put a hand on his chest.  
  
"Not, not tonight." She received a puzzled but understanding look. He nodded and started to get out of the bed. Maybe she didn't feel the same way anymore. This panicked her.  
  
"Wait! Where are you going?" He looked up.  
  
"Back to my room." Two tiny hands held onto his arm, a glint caught his eye.  
  
"Please, don't." He turned to face her.  
  
"But you..." She placed a kiss on his moving lips.  
  
"Sleep with me?" Her head cocked to the side in a questioning position. This brought a smile to his face. He crawled back into her bed and she latched onto him. His hand found hers to inspect the object he thought he saw earlier. Just as he thought, the ring he had given her was placed on her finger.  
  
"You still have it?" He held her hand, examining every bit of it.  
  
"Of course I do! You sound so doubtful."  
  
"Well, I guess, I mean, you never know... after all that's happened..." She became serious.  
  
"Zidane, this ring meant so much to me during the time when you were gone. I knew you were coming back to me, I just knew it. Even when no one else would, it made me still believe that you were alive."  
  
"My offer still holds true then?" She gave him a slightly quizzical look. "You'll still marry me?" Garnet squealed and leapt on him, arms squeezing him tightly. He held her equally as strong, a large grin plastered on his face. Zidane pulled one hand away from her to pull the covers up over them.  
  
Within moments, they were both sound asleep.  
  
Sorry, I would have written more, but school work is calling me. I have to finish "The World According to Garp" by the end of next week, and it's a really good book, just 600 pages long though and that's certainly time consuming... oh well. I hope you enjoyed it and expect another update on Monday! 


	8. Part II: Chapter Two

Hey, I updated on time! *^_^* I had a lot of time this weekend, being grounded and all. ()-_- I also saw The Ring so there's also that whole physically unable to sleep factor. o_0;;; So I was able to spit out a super- long chapter for you all! They just keep getting longer and longer and that makes me happy! *^_^*  
  
Thank you once again to all my reviewers, I don't think you can imagine how greatful I am to all of you, your comments mean so much to me! Especially to ThingBling, my wonderfully enthusiastic reviewer, you're so sweet to review all my chapters at once, it was a nice self-esteem boost! *^_~* And to answer your question, I'd love to be a writer one day, in fact, my dream is to work on one of the Final Fantasy games at Squaresoft, I would just love that so much! *^_^* . I'm in a smiley mood today, can you tell? *^_^*  
  
-Chapter Two-  
  
And so days and even weeks passed, and Garnet slowly became more and more distant from Zidane.  
  
"You aren't good enough from him."  
  
Garnet was afraid of telling him the truth.  
  
"He's going to find out sometime, and when he does, how is he going to react?"  
  
She didn't want anything bad to happen. She would avoid the subject at all costs.  
  
"You know, if he knows, he might not love you anymore."  
  
She never wanted that to happen.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Zidane peered into the slightly open door of the military conference room. The person who he was looking for, as expected, was there. He knocked briskly, to be polite and entered when he heard the lower, feminine voice say, "It's open."  
  
Beatrix sat at the far end of the conference table, surrounded by papers strewn about around her. She finished her sentence and her face became soft once she saw Zidane. He nervously walked over to where she was sitting, hands behind his back, tail swishing back and forth. Once seated, he said nothing, almost as if he was comprehending what to say but the words weren't forming. Beatrix gave a friendly smile.  
  
"Zidane, are you okay?" His hands kneaded in his lap. ".Zidane?" He stayed silent for a while longer and then he asked.  
  
"What's wrong with Dagger." It was said more as a statement then a question, it demanded an answer. The smile fell from the general's face and she felt tears forming. Quickly, she blinked them back, and played innocent.  
  
"What do you mean?" Zidane turned towards her, anger clearly burning in his eyes.  
  
"Beatrix, don't act dumb with me. I know you know what's going on with her." He was holding back his emotions, she could tell.  
  
She looked down. "I don't know what you're talking about." Zidane was becoming infuriated.  
  
"Yes, you do! You're her best friend, of course you know! She's been acting strange, different than before." Zidane pleaded with her. "Please, tell me what I can do to help.. I'm worried, I love her so much... I don't want anything bad to be happening to her."  
  
"Then why don't you ask her yourself?"  
  
"I can't do that."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't know, I just can't." Beatrix got up and walked over to one of the strategy boards.  
  
"Zidane, a lot happened while you were gone. you'll have to talk to her about it. It's best if you hear it directly from her."  
  
"But what if she won't tell me?"  
  
"She will, don't worry, it's not her nature to keep things from the one she loves."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Garnet's body slumped against the wall and slowly descended to the floor. She held her face in her hands, moving them backwards through her hair and placed behind her neck. Chocolate eyes gazed up at the ceiling. What was she going to tell him now; she didn't want to tell him about what had happened. But she had to. She leaned slightly over from her seated position to see if they were still talking. When the familiar noise of a sliding chair was heard, Garnet popped up and moved around the corner, pretending that she wasn't listening. She walked down the long corridor, not really sure of where she was going. Merely operating on autopilot until her brain could sort everything out. It was supposed to be a thing of the past, something that Garnet would just have to get over. It was supposed to go away.  
  
"But it never will." Garnet looked around for the source of the voice, even though she recognized it clearly. This time, she would not be manipulated.  
  
"Go away." She simply stated, continuing down the hallway, as if she could walk away from it.  
  
"I see we're in a bad mood today." The voice laughed, seeming to take great pleasure in seeing Garnet suffer.  
  
"Yes, that is quite true, now would you mind not bothering me?" Garnet couldn't believe that she was trying to have a rational conversation with it.  
  
"Yes, your highness, I shall stop for now, but you do know that I enjoy you so, don't think I'll leave you alone for too long." Another laugh sounded and Garnet instantly felt a hollow space inside of her, causing a surge of emotions to course through her. She was unable to entertain her emotions though, for a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her torso. A small cry escaped her lips and quickly they spread into a large smile. All her worries melted away, she was only filled with a wonderful warmth.  
  
"I caught you." Zidane tried to smell her hair without her noticing, she giggled, of course she always noticed. He nuzzled his face against her and kissed down the side of her neck. "I love you." Even though she pushed the thoughts down, she knew why he was this way with her all of a sudden. He needed to have reassurance, for both of them. She didn't want to hurt him, she didn't mean to, but she just wasn't ready to tell him yet. She turned her head towards Zidane to kiss him, but they were both startled by loud clanking that could only be pegged to Steiner. Zidane grabbed Garnet's hand and pulled her into the nearest doorway, which happened to be the Weaponry Room. She let out a laugh.  
  
"Only you would choose the room with all the weapons." He took a step back.  
  
"Hey! I didn't plan it this way." He paused. "And do you mean to tell me that you don't find spears, swords and other weapons of mass destruction romantic?" He faked despair. "I thought I knew you." He grabbed the Mythril Spear next to him and pretended to take consolence in it. "Can you believe it?" He asked the spear. "You don't turn her on in the slightest." Garnet in turn grabbed a Rod off the wall, looped it around his waist and yanked him towards her, causing him to drop the spear and hold onto her. She leaned forward, lips barely brushing his ear.  
  
"Oh, but you do." A chill went up Zidane's spine and Garnet leaned back. Their mouths met quickly, a heated passion was building inside both of them. It wasn't long before Zidane's fingers found the buttons on the back of her dress.  
  
"Remember what happened last time? You shouldn't do this" She mentally told the voice to shut up. Zidane grabbed a tent off of one of the shelves and lay it down on the ground. She joined him down on the spread out fabric. He knew that look.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Should we be doing this?"  
  
"Good girl." The voice praised her.  
  
"We don't have to." She traced the trim on his vest.  
  
"But I want to."  
  
"I don't understand, Dagger."  
  
"Forget it."  
  
"No, really, what is it?"  
  
"It's not that important."  
  
"Are you sure?" Garnet gave a quick nod, but almost immediately slowed.  
  
"What if something comes of this?" Zidane understood.  
  
"I'd be okay with that. I wouldn't mind. would you?" She thought back over the last two years. When she was pregnant, she was almost, excited to have the baby. It was something that she always wanted. But did she still want it now? Should she tell him about what happened?  
  
The voice commanded. "Garnet, don't you dare."  
  
"No, I wouldn't." They slowly made love to each other, very gently, each afraid to hurt the other. They continued for an unknown amount of time, but from exhaustion, Zidane fell asleep. Garnet couldn't though. There was that voice penetrating through her brain. "You whore." it insulted her. "It's not time yet. You really should start listening to me."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"What have I done?" Tears welled up in the confused Queen's eyes. Her second thoughts were overwhelming her. She knew that she was pregnant again, even though it had only been a day, she could feel it inside of her. 'No,' she told herself, 'this'll be good for you. You'll stop dwelling on the past.' The past. Zidane still didn't know. He knew none of it. 'What if it happened again?' She clenched her stomach in freight. 'What if I lose this one too?' She ran up the stairs and shut her bedroom door, hiding under the safety of her covers. She hid from the voice, the one that never stopped. Never left her alone. The one that told her to, "Enjoy it, while it lasts."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Zidane crawled in under the covers of the bed he shared with his beloved Dagger. He wrapped his arms around her resting frame and held her close against him. When he received no response, he became concerned. "Dagger? Are you okay?" In his embrace, she began to tremble slightly. "Dagger?" She twisted to face him, her cheeks flushed from tears. She grasped onto him as tightly as possible, softly crying into his chest. He stroked her hair, unsure of what to do. "What is it? Dagger, what's wrong? What happened?" He panicked; she was crying and he didn't know why. She squeezed her hands tightly on his shirt, crumpling the material.  
  
"It's just." she began. "I mean, I." She pulled away slightly, to look him in the eye. "I don't know how I'm going to tell you this."  
  
"Tell me what?" His eyes pleaded with her, but at the same time, were fearful of what she had to say.  
  
"Zidane," she took a deep breath in. "Do you remember that time at the Black Mage Village?" Suddenly Zidane's face broke out into shock, he knew. There was no other possibility. He nodded in agreement, not voicing his thoughts in hopes that they weren't true. "Something happened then, I guess we forgot about any possible outcomes of our actions." Now he knew that he was right. 'Oh my god.' Zidane's thoughts sped by him a million times an hour. 'I have a kid, but why haven't it seen it around? It. is it a him or a her? How old? Well probably no more than 18 months, oh god, I'm a dad.' Out of everything he thought, only two words came out.  
  
"You mean.?"  
  
"Yes Zidane, I was pregnant." Zidane felt his body paralyze in shock.  
  
"You mean. we have a child?" His brain slowed down to attempt to rationally process the information. Once again, his voice was not working for him. "Where?" Even through his seemingly incomprehendable question, she knew what he meant.  
  
"We. almost did." Garnet's eyes closed for a second, they were threatening to release more tears. She was not going to let herself lose her composure again. If she was going to tell him, she had to be as calm as possible. Zidane didn't understand.  
  
"What do you mean. by almost?"  
  
Her voice got low, nearly above a whisper, uttering the words she didn't want to believe. "I miscarried." Zidane didn't know what to do with himself. He felt like the scum of the world. 'First I get her pregnant, then I leave her, and then she miscarries our child. I'm such a terrible person.' He hugged her close to him.  
  
"Dagger, I'm so sorry. I, I had no idea." She quietly cried into his chest. "I can't believe I left you. with. with. and you had to deal with it by yourself. I'm so sorry." Then his mind shot over to the day before. "Oh my god. That's what you were worried about. Dagger you should have told me. I feel terrible."  
  
"Don't, Beatrix was really helpful, she took care of me during it all. Steiner seemed to keep his distance, I don't think that he knew exactly what to do. Everyone, in general, had a shocked but understanding viewpoint. Baku was the only one that got mad."  
  
".Baku knows?" Zidane's face was covered in worry.  
  
"Yes, I just kind of told him, at your funeral. He said that we were irresponsible."  
  
Zidane shifted uncomfortably. "I had a funeral?" She nodded.  
  
"They searched for you for 3 months before finally ending the search. The cities had to be rebuilt and they couldn't spend any longer searching. The day I miscarried was the day they told me that they had pronounced you dead." A hollow pit filled Zidane's stomach.  
  
"They said I was dead?"  
  
"Apparently, there was no way that you could have been alive, they searched so many times all around the Iifa Tree and in the neighboring villages. They never found you. I didn't want to believe that you were dead. Zidane, if you hadn't come back, I would have made such a huge mistake."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I wanted to be with you so badly that, since I was then convinced that you were no longer alive, I would join you." Zidane squeezed her tighter. What she said had terrified him.  
  
"Oh god Dagger, I've put you through so much." His eyes unwillingly began to shed tears of sorrow, dripping down onto Garnet. "I don't know how I'm going to, but I'm going to make it up to you. I'll make our time together from now on be better than either of us could have imagined. Dagger, I feel like such a horrible person, how could I have done this to you? I just want to make things better, I don't want you to hurt anymore. How can I do that?" Into his shoulder, she spoke.  
  
"Just love me." She patted her stomach. "And our one on the way." The two lay there and cried together, both of them so hurt by the events of the past few years.  
  
"I can do that. I'll always love you."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"What are you thanking me for?" "For everything."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Two months later, Garnet miscarried again.  
  
::dodges flying objects:: Please don't kill me! ::dodges more objects:: I'm sorry! I had to do it, it's crucial to the plot! ::gets beaned with a chair:: I'll try to get the next chapter up by Thursday? ::objects cease to fly:: It's almost the end of the quarter so I should have more time. Please review, thank you much! *^_^* 


	9. Part II: Chapter Three

I have a feeling that an explanation is in order.  
  
Did I die? I might as well have.... ()-_-;;;;;;;;  
  
Sorry about the extreme lapse in updates, I've been so sick over the last couple weeks I've basically been rendered unconscious in bed and done nothing but sleep and watch .hack//SIGN. ()-_- How can you blame me, I've had strep and an inflamed rib joint, seriously I did... not fun. But I'm now feeling somewhat coherent *as opposed to before* and can start writing again, just thought I'd explain that to you before you wondered if I really kicked the bucket or not!  
  
But I didn't totally stop writing, I did try, I just ended up falling asleep and waking up entangled in my laptop's charger cord. I now know exactly what is going to happen in this story, I was able to keep my mind functioning long enough to make out a bulleted list of what's going to happen next. So, hopefully me not writhing in pain is going to be continuing so I can write the next few chapters on schedule! Ya~tta! *^_~*  
  
-Chapter Three-  
  
"What is wrong with me?" Garnet pleaded with Doctor Tot, as she held tightly onto Zidane's hand. He comforted her as best he could, unsure of exactly what to do in this situation. It was a large blow to him when he heard the news, he couldn't imagine how she was feeling. No one but the three in the room knew she had even been pregnant; however, they had decided to keep it a secret until after the wedding, to cause less trouble in general.  
  
"Your highness, in total honesty, I don't know. I've run series and series of tests on you and I can't figure why you are miscarrying. It's not that you're infertile; it's quite the opposite. There is nothing wrong with you that I can find." Doctor Tot adjusted his glasses. "Unless there is something else that you aren't telling me about."  
  
"Hey. hey." A concerned Zidane watched as Garnet slumped and tucked her knees up to her chest, a sign, he had recently learned, that meant something upset her.  
  
"Don't tell him." It commanded.  
  
"Your highness, it is very important that if there is something else, that you inform me of it."  
  
"Don't you dare tell him!" It was shouting at her now. It screamed the words at her over and over and over and over, drilling it into her skull so she could think of nothing else. She grabbed her head in pain, repeating, "Stop." to herself.  
  
"Dagger?" Zidane held her by both of her shoulders in front of him. She shook her head around violently and pushed him away from her.  
  
"Shut up, just stop it!" she screamed at the voice, it wouldn't stop the pressure.  
  
"Your highness.?" Doctor Tot reached out a hand to her. She held both hands around his, as if barely clinging to the edge of sanity.  
  
"There's a. voice. inside of me. she tells me things. things I don't want to hear. I hate her. she won't go away. why can't she leave me alone?!" Instantly, nothing filled Garnet's mind. Everything was silent.  
  
"You'll pay for that. I told you not to say anything." Garnet let go of her head, revealing small fingerprints from her hands were. Zidane rushed over to her and held onto her, kissing her temple, terrified of what he just saw.  
  
Her voice muffled through Zidane's chest, repeating her initial statement. "Doctor Tot, what is wrong with me?" Zidane held onto her even tighter, almost as if he believed that she would disappear right out of his arms.  
  
"Your highness, could you explain to me what has just taken place?" Doctor Tot grabbed a pad of paper from the nearby desk and began scribbling down every word that she said.  
  
"It's been with me for a while." she paused, sorting out her thoughts, scared out of her mind to finally voice them.  
  
"What has?" Doctor Tot stared at her intensely.  
  
"The voice."  
  
"What voice?"  
  
"The voice that's inside my head. It tells me what to do and what not to. It messes with my brain, it tries to make me do things that I know I shouldn't do. I don't understand who she is and why she is doing this."  
  
"So it's a female voice that you hear?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And how long have you been hearing this voice?"  
  
"It started not long after we arrived back from the Iifa Tree."  
  
"Did you by any chance come into contact with any strange stones while you were there?"  
  
Garnet thought for a moment. "Not that I know of. how come?"  
  
"Because I think that the voice might be an Eilodion."  
  
"Why do you think that? Why would one do this to me?"  
  
"That's the part that I don't understand. I'll have to go though my research to see what I can find out about female Eilodions." He walked over to his bookshelf as a thought occurred to him. "Garnet?" She turned her head in question. "I did not ask, what kinds of things is she telling you?" The stout doctor received a look of pure pain and was met with complete silence. "Garnet, you have to tell me what she was saying, I can't help you unless I know her exact personality."  
  
"She, told me things. things that others were saying about me. How the townspeople felt about me, about the things she was telling them herself. She rubbed all of my secrets in my face, threatening to tell them if I did or said the wrong thing. She's so pessimistic about everything, telling me terrible words about what's going to happen to me. I nearly ended it all because of her. she was so against this new baby that we had. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that," Garnet struggled to say the words. "That she. ended it." Garnet looked down at the ground. "She told me that it wasn't time yet. That I should enjoy it while it lasts. I don't understand what she's doing to me and why. She just is and I want her out. I can't live with her anymore."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm so nervous!" The queen stomped her slippered feet, in a week attempt to calm down.  
  
"Garnet! Hold still or we'll never have you ready in time." As Garnet tipped back and forth on the platform she was on, Beatrix was desperately trying to button up the fidgety queen's dress.  
  
"But I can't!" she squirmed some more, not helping Beatrix in the slightest.  
  
"You have to, you can't be late to your own wedding!" She stopped moving for a moment and thought for a second.  
  
"Maybe this isn't a good idea." Beatrix, in a panic, whipped Garnet around and held her towards her by her shoulders.  
  
"Don't you dare start thinking in that way. You and Zidane have waited so long for this, overcome so many hardships, you are not backing out on this now." She looked Garnet straight in the eyes. Garnet got a huge smile instantly on her face and leapt at Beatrix to embrace her.  
  
"You're right, now we better hurry or else we'll be late."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Zidane's tail swished back and forth in an anxious fashion. He was standing at the altar, with all of the people he'd ever known and townspeople of Alexandria in the crowd, and his bride, was already 15 minutes late. "Oh my god, she's not coming, I know she's not. I should just bail out right now." As Zidane panicked to himself, his eyes searched. "If I sneak out behind Blank when he's not looking, then maybe I could make and dash for the edge of the Prima Vista. From there I could climb up onto the roof. I'm sure the rooftop viewers would help me out. Then I can-"  
  
"Bro, you alright?" Zidane jumped ten feet in the air when his best man placed his hand on his shoulder.  
  
Zidane caught his breath, restarted his heart and responded meekly. "Yeah, I'm fine. why?"  
  
Blank let out a hearty laugh. "Z, I know you too well. You were planning an escape root from here because you thought she wasn't going to show."  
  
Zidane turns his eyes away from his companion. "I don't know, maybe. I could possibly have been thinking that."  
  
Blank placed his arm around his shoulders. "Don't waste your time, you've got nothing to worry about." The organ nearby began belting out music, once again making Zidane jump. "See? You can calm down now. They wouldn't send out the cute little flower girls if she weren't back there." Zidane sighed and nodded and tugged on his tux, more nervous now, than ever.  
  
"Y'know Blank, I think this may be the scariest thing that I've ever done."  
  
Blank punched him in the arm. "You'll be fine."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Scarlet! Cherry! Come quick!" Garnet's twin cousins ran over to the door where Beatrix was standing. "Now you two, be good, toss your pedals anywhere on the carpet that you wish, just not on people, okay?"  
  
"Yes Auntie Beatrix." They chorused in a disappointed unison. She patted them both on the back and pointed them towards the doorway to the deck.  
  
"Be good!" She called and turned to the Bridesmaids and Bridegrooms. "Okay, now get ready to go, they'll be down there soon. In the next few moments she shoved Eiko and Cinna, and then Freya and Marcus through the door. Beatrix rushed over to where Garnet was standing and hugged her tightly. "Darling, I'm so happy for you. You grew up so fast, I can hardly believe that your actually getting married. You grew up into a more beautiful, caring, wonderful person than I ever could have imagined. I know that everything will go perfectly." Garnet's eyes welled up and squeezed her best friend back.  
  
"Thank you for everything." Beatrix smiled.  
  
"Good luck!" she called as she rushed out the door.  
  
"Thank you for doing this." Garnet found the hand of the only person in the room and squeezed it gently. Steiner squeezed her hand back and smiled.  
  
"I'm honored that you would ask me to do this."  
  
"You were the only person that I would want to give me away. You've been like a father to me for so long, and you certainly baby me like one." They both laughed. They heard the music outside stop and knew that was their cue. Garnet turned and hugged Steiner, surprised at first, but he hugged her back. They both took in a simultaneous deep breath and then laughed at their similar action.  
  
"Well," Garnet spoke to herself. "Here goes everything."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Zidane repeated to himself over and over and over again once the initial music stopped. The real panic set in the minute "Here Come the Bride" played, but melted away entirely the minute he saw her. Her dress was a bright white with splashes of light spring green thrown into the full skirt. The bodice was sleeve-less and corset-like. It was covered in little crystals that were placed to have the appearance of curled vines. Her hair was up behind her head, but a few strands were left out to frame her face. Her train and her glittering sheer veil extended at least ten feet behind her. Zidane was bewitched, and couldn't take his eyes off of her.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Garnet linked her arm tightly around Steiner's, using him as support so she wouldn't fall over with nervousness. The moment she made eye contact with Zidane; however, she didn't feel that way anymore. She felt herself blush and hoped that the makeup would hide it. He was just looking at her, in that way that no one had ever looked at her before. It was like she was the most beautiful woman in the world and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Like she was the only one for him, the only one that he wanted to be with him forever. He was the only one who ever looked at her like that, and the only one that ever would. She had to resist the urge to start a full speed run into his arms, which is what she so desperately wanted to do. She continued to walk in the slowed, paced way that she had been taught for as long as she could remember. It was the exact moment that Garnet realized why they walked so slow down the aisle. It wasn't so that everyone could look at the bride, as she had always thought was the reason, it was to tease the two lovers, drawing it out so ever second that past, they wanted each other more and more until they couldn't stand it anymore. By the time the bride reaches the altar, the two are so filled with love that everything becomes magical and they feel that they are purely in love. When they reached the altar, Baku stepped forward as the deliverer of the ceremony.  
  
"We are gathered here today."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Garnet's eyes fluttered open slowly as she adjusted to the sunlight that was pouring in from the windows. She stretched her arms slightly, careful not to wake the figure beside her. She turned to see him stirring. Seeking revenge for the countless times she had been woken, she rolled on top of him and placed a kiss on his lips. Being the light sleeper that he always was, he woke up to the best thing in the world.  
  
"Good morning, my darling husband." Garnet smiled seductively, trying out the name. Zidane did as well.  
  
"Good morning, my wonderful wife." He kissed her again. She looked over to the side a moment, then back at him.  
  
"I'm sorry we can't go on a honeymoon, things are so busy."  
  
"It's just fine, this will make it more fun for me anyways." She cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"I'm afraid to ask, but how so?"  
  
"That means I have to invent ways to steal you away from things, my specialty of course." She laughed.  
  
"I'll enjoy that. but nothing tonight alright? It a very important party to celebrate the new union between the four kingdoms. We have to be there."  
  
"Okay, I promise, nothing tonight." He muttered disappointedly.  
  
"But I do have a meeting tomorrow that I would love to have reason to leave early." Garnet gave him a mischievous glance. His face lit up.  
  
"We'll make that a date."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Thank you so much for being here, you don't know how much this means to me and the people of Alexandria for that matter, to have Cleyra participate in this alliance of the kingdoms. You have suffered many hardships on account of my mother and the man that was controlling her and I know that we will never be able to make it up to you. But the fact that you're giving Alexandria a second chance, I can never extend my gratitude far enough." Queen Garnet curtsied slightly to the Clerian ruler. She chucked and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Queen Garnet, you are just as sweet as everyone says that you are." She giggled again and made her way over to one of the other party guests. Garnet, who had not had a moment to herself since the night began, found herself alone, until an unexpected flying object hurtled itself at her.  
  
"Dagger!" the purple-haired girl threw her arms around Garnet. She hugged her back, just as happy to see her.  
  
"Eiko, I'm so happy that you could make it! Is Uncle Cid and Aunt Hilde here too?" The girl nodded.  
  
"Yeah, they were right behind me, but I saw you and had to rush over!" She laughed with excitement.  
  
"I'm so glad. How are you doing though?" Garnet bent down and nudged her. "Any boyfriends that I should know about?"  
  
Eiko blushed furiously. "No. none at all." She drifted off.  
  
"You're lying." the older girl teased.  
  
"No. I'm not." Eiko put her hands behind her back and shifted back and forth.  
  
"Come on. tell me. please?"  
  
"Well. not unless you tell me about Zidane." Garnet cranked her head at the girl.  
  
"What do you mean?" Eiko got in her face.  
  
"All the nasty things you're doing to him now that you're married!" It was Garnet's turn to blush and she fumbled for her words.  
  
"No I'm not. well maybe. You're twelve! You shouldn't be asking me questions like this." She looked up. "Oh here come your parent's, I'll be inquired about your special someone later however."  
  
"As will I." Eiko muttered.  
  
"What was that!?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Thought so. Uncle Cid! Aunt Hilde! I'm so happy to see you both!" Garnet hugged them tightly. "Thank you so much for coming."  
  
"Oh Garnet honey, you know we'd do anything for you!" Hilde kissed Garnet's cheek. The rest of the conversation for Garnet was a blur, for something else was in her mind.  
  
"It's time now."  
  
"What do you mean, why now?"  
  
"Because it's the right time."  
  
"But why now, why not before."  
  
"The stars."  
  
"Why do the stars matter?"  
  
"Go now."  
  
"But this is important."  
  
"I said go now."  
  
"Later."  
  
"No, now."  
  
"No."  
  
"You will go now."  
  
Garnet's eyes sparked a hint of violet and cut her uncle off mid-sentence. "I'm sorry Uncle Cid, there's something important that has just come to my attention."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Freya and Zidane sat in complete silence on the concrete ledge. "You're lucky Zidane." He snapped out of his zone and looked at the girl next to him. "Dagger and you are perfect for each other. Things seem so easy for you both."  
  
Zidane's face dropped. "They aren't as easy as everyone seems to think." This comment confused the Burmecian.  
  
"What do you mean, Zidane? Isn't Dagger the girl that you've always dreamed of marrying? The one you would describe to me late nights at the Lindblum Café? Why aren't things easy?"  
  
"There's something wrong with her, and we don't know what."  
  
"Something wrong?" He dipped his hand backwards into the pool of water.  
  
"She miscarried again."  
  
"Oh my god, that's awful. I don't want to sound insensitive, but shouldn't you two have been waiting until after your marriage?"  
  
"I guess. but still. and then there's the voice."  
  
"What voice?"  
  
"She hears a voice inside of her head." He looked at the ground. "It scares me y'know? We were at Doctor Tot's and all of a sudden she grabs her head screaming and talking about this voice that torments her. It scares me that I can't do anything to help her. I can't protect her from something in her mind."  
  
"Does Doctor Tot know what it is?"  
  
"He thinks it might be an Eilodion."  
  
"That would make sense."  
  
"Yeah." Zidane changed his persona completely, the way he always did when he was getting to down in the dumps, that is, unless he was drunk, then he would go on for hours. "So what about you and Fratley?"  
  
"Not so good."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Things aren't working out as I planned they would."  
  
"What happened, Freya?"  
  
"Well it just started out as a minor thing at first. I moved to Cleyra to help with the rebuild and Fratley stayed in Burmecia. We didn't see much of each other after that. It was hard to keep our relationship going, he still hasn't remembered anything, and I felt that it was mainly one-sided. That he was only with me because he felt that he owed it to me."  
  
"I'm sorry Freya."  
  
"But then Amarant showed up one day in Cleyra, asking to help rebuild. He's. he's been helping me though this, he says that he can't replace Fratley, but he wants be there for me."  
  
"Are you two together now?" Zidane pried.  
  
"I don't know what our relationship is exactly, I'm guessing that's that case." She blushed slightly in thought. "Whatever this is, I'm happy. Not much in this world has made me happy and for some reason, he does."  
  
"I'm glad for you Freya, I really am." It was at that moment when Garnet rushed up to him in a panic. "Dagger, what is it?"  
  
"Oh my god, Zidane, you have to come quickly!"  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Just come, it's an emergency." She tugged on his arm. Freya stood up,  
  
"Is there anything that I can do to help?"  
  
"No, thank you though." She pulled on his arm and quickly yanked him behind the garden pool he was just sitting at. They entered the gardens and took him into the middle of the maze.  
  
"Dagger, what are we doing out here? What's going on?" Dagger got a saucy glint in her eye.  
  
"What to you think we are doing out here?" Zidane caught on quick.  
  
"Oh I see. So there's no really emergency is there?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, lightly taking the bottom of his ear into her teeth and playing.  
  
"Oh I consider this an emergency of the deepest kind." Her hands traced across his body, removing his clothing as fast as she could.  
  
"Dagger, this is really unlike you, not that I'm complaining or anything." She stopped, and looked him straight in the eyes with her purple-chocolate eyes.  
  
"I just need you, I need you now." She claimed his mouth as they descended to the ground.  
  
"But isn't this party really important to you? Should we really be missing it like this?" Garnet unzipped her dress.  
  
"The party can wait."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Zidane! I HATE YOU! You hear me?! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Garnet screamed at the top of her lungs, nearly breaking her husbands hand as he tried to console her.  
  
"I'm sorry.?" He gave a pitiful look her way and she screamed again.  
  
"Good! You should be sorry! You're the one who did this to me!" Her other hand slammed on the bed. "Doctor Tot! Please get this baby out of me!" She cried harder in the pain. Beatrix took a cloth and dabbed at her forehead.  
  
"Garnet." Seeing the death glare that she received, she decided not to finish her sentence. So Zidane finished it for her.  
  
"Please, honey, please calm down."  
  
"Calm down. Calm down! You want me to calm down! Let's see you squeeze a baby out of your ass, then tell me how calm you are!" Zidane got visibly uncomfortable and would have opted to leave the room if it weren't for his wife's death grip.  
  
"Okay Your Highness, just one more push." Garnet screamed and pushed for all she was worth but her screams were soon drown out by another's. She relaxed immediately, breathing heavily. Zidane kissed her forehead letting go of her hand. He went over to inspect the new thing. He watched as Doctor Tot cleaned it off, very, very carefully. The baby was so fragile. It was wrapped up in a blanket and he handed the baby to Zidane. He positioned his hands just right to hold the baby. "It's a girl." Doctor Tot said, smiling. Zidane looked down at his gorgeous baby girl. Holding her like she was going to break in his arms, Zidane carried her over to her mother, watching the little girl carefully with each step. He placed her in her arms and lay down with her in the bed.  
  
"She's so beautiful." Garnet awed over their baby, content with merely looking at her.  
  
"She gets that from you." Garnet blushed a smile.  
  
"What are we going to name her?"  
  
"Whatever you want to name her." For a moment, Garnet's eyes glazed over a violet tinge.  
  
"Lillith." She shook her head out of her daze and nodded. "She'll be our little Lily."  
  
W007! Eight pages! Count them! He he. okay, I'm just mildly pleased with myself, ignore me to the best of your capabilities. This, my friends, is what comes of spending Sunday Morning in the emergency room, after a car accident has just arrived. I agree too that the car accident should receive much more attention that me, but two hours was a really long time to wait. ()-_- Please review, even though I've been a very bad fanfic author and didn't write squat for weeks. ()-_- Eight pages people, eight pages in two days. You gotta admit that's cool. *^_^* 


	10. Part II Chapter Four

So sorry for the long hiatus! ::is shunned by readers:: Really, I am! Got sick again, so it can't be helped. But I did write three chapters and will post them over the next few weeks. I don't know how good they are or not, I was kind of sick and delusional, but they are enough to nudge the plot along! I hope you like it anyway! *^_^*  
  
-Chapter Four-  
  
Lily was not your normal child. In fact, all rules of genetics went against her.  
  
"Well, maybe it comes from my side, even though Eiko said she was the only one ever with hair other than dark brown or black."  
  
"I'm genome, we only have blonde, no red."  
  
"And violet eyes can happen sometimes, it's not necessarily inherited."  
  
"But her skin, she's so fair."  
  
"I've got light skin, maybe she gets that from me."  
  
"Yeah, but not that light."  
  
"She doesn't have a horn."  
  
"Or a tail."  
  
"Maybe they canceled each other out?"  
  
"Something like that." An uneasy silence followed.  
  
"I've never been with anyone but you."  
  
"I know that, I'm just wondering how it happened."  
  
"I don't know."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
And when she got older, she was mischievous. All children are, but she was to a severe extent. It didn't help much that her sense of power was in tune at an abnormally young age.  
  
"Okay pumpkin, blow out your candles!" Lily giggled and conjured up three little water spells and splashed them on each candle. Both parents just looked at each other.  
  
"Zidane, did you teach her that?"  
  
"No." he turned towards his child. "Tiger Lily, where did you learn to do that?"  
  
"Do what?" She tipped her head to the side, causing a few daisy petals to fall from the flowers in her fiery hair.  
  
"You know what I mean." He looked at her in the sternest glance that he could muster for his precious little girl.  
  
"Oh! You mean. this?" She pulled a daisy from out of her hair. She held it in her thumb and pointer finger. She leaned across the table to put the flower in front of her dad's face. He looked at her quizzically momentarily and then jerked in freight when the small flower was instantly immersed in flames. She giggled more, leapt off the table and ran down the hallway to her room.  
  
"Lily! You come back here!" Garnet yelled down the hallway for the princess. Realizing it was futile, she turned to Zidane. "What are we going to do?"  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Growing up, she loved to spread rumors; tell lies so that others would get hurt and fight. She loved to cause chaos. "Cherry! I'm so glad that I found you. I don't want you to be upset, but I thought I had to tell you the things that Scarlet has been saying about you behind your back."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
It wasn't until a while after Lily was born that Garnet noticed the change. She couldn't pinpoint it at first, but it soon was clear. There was no reason for her to be depressed, she had a perfect little girl, who never cried, let her sleep most nights, and most importantly, she was healthy. She figured it was just from having the baby and that was all that there was to it. As she had been told, it was normal to be depressed after having a child; your body has to readjust. But Garnet realized that something was missing. With the many distractions of having her child, it didn't become obvious to her until ten years later. She didn't hear the voice.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"What do you mean, it's gone?" Doctor Tot paced around the royal bedroom, trying to make sense of the Queen.  
  
"It's gone, completely gone. I don't hear it, I don't even feel it being there." She grabbed her head, completely stunned by her recent revelation.  
  
"I don't know what to tell you. This matter has me completely puzzled. However, I am having a friend look into it and-" Garnet panicked.  
  
"You told somebody else about this?"  
  
"Don't worry, I just said that it was a patient of mine, I didn't say that it was you." She sighed.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"He actually thinks that it could be an Eilodion."  
  
"An Eilodion.? That could make sense, I guess. But then, where did it go?"  
  
"That causes a huge problem. See, the Eilodion that he thinks that it is, it's not, how shall we put this, user friendly."  
  
"I don't understand what you mean."  
  
"Up until now you have been blessed with all good Eilodions, ones that wouldn't hurt you. Some people we have read about; however, aren't bestowed with such fortune. They infect the carriers mind, not letting them think rational thoughts. Most individuals with these Eilodions usually become mentally unstable and regrettably die at extremely young ages."  
  
"Like how young?"  
  
"Usually within a year or two of turning sixteen, when they receive their powers." Her hand found her forehead out of worry.  
  
"How do they die?"  
  
"Most are suicides, some are undocumented."  
  
"Oh god." Memories flashed by Garnet; was it really an Eilodion making her. that way?  
  
"Yes, I was surprised by that as well."  
  
"That doesn't make sense, I'm 28, and I'm still living."  
  
"But that's where the problem kicks in. You said the voice disappeared. Further information about those situations are somewhere in the Daguureo Library, but I don't know exactly where. Doctor Davi, the one who is helping me with your case, is looking into it and will provide me with information at soon as he possibly can. Although, I must warn you, this information is hard to obtain and piece together. It could be a very long time before we know the answer. I suggest that you get on with your life and not give it another thought unless we inform you otherwise."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor Tot."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Now Lily, you be a good little girl and don't cause any trouble for Akira alright? And please, stay within the city boundaries this time alright?" Lily tugged at her yellow sundress and nodded an innocent yes. She scampered off in the direction of her playmate, who looked positively terrified to see her. Garnet seated herself back at the table where the royals of Cleyra were carrying on a conversation with her husband.  
  
"I know what you mean, time goes by so fast, one second Lily was in constant need of care, and now she's determined to be so independent."  
  
"Same with Akira, he thinks he's a "young adult" now of course." The adults laughed. "I'm just happy that he and your daughter get along so well, it's hard to find a playmate for him." The Cleyrulian queen went on. "There aren't many near his age around here."  
  
Garnet nodded in agreement. "As am I, it's too bad that our countries are at such a distance. Lily doesn't make friends that easily."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Before Akira could think, Lily had yanked him behind a tree. Both were out for breath from running, they were now deep within the old caves of Cleyra. "Why did we have to come all the way out here?" He exasperatedly asked his best friend.  
  
"Because silly, we aren't supposed to be out here." A mischievous giggle escaped her lips. "And why is that?" She skipped out in front of him.  
  
"Because! The Antillion lives out here!"  
  
"You're worried about a little Antillion? Ha! You're more of a wimp than I thought."  
  
"I'm not a wimp!"  
  
"Yes, you are!"  
  
"No I'm not!" The boy stomped his foot.  
  
"Then come with me and prove it!"  
  
"No, I don't want to. Why do we have to be out here anyway?"  
  
"Because I want to show you the new spell that I learned."  
  
"But Lily, I thought your parents said that you weren't allowed to do spells out of the castle."  
  
"That doesn't matter, they'll never know. I just wanna show you really quickly. Really quick, I promise and then we'll get out of here okay?"  
  
"Okay. but really quick."  
  
Lily grabbed his hand and ran a little further until she found a placed that she would work. She pushed Akira back and over to the side so he wouldn't be in the way. The tiny girl stood in the middle of a large, empty space of sand. Her eyes shut tight as she concentrated hard.  
  
"Lily, what are you doing?" The ten-year-old whipped around and glared at her best friend.  
  
"Quiet! I'm concentrating!" She shut her eyes tight again. Her hand whipped out quickly in front of her and she shouted, "Tornado!" She ran away from her spot, over to where Akira was. "Look!" The tornado wrapped around and around, gathering speed and size in the center of the sand.  
  
"What's so special about that?" She hit Akira over the head.  
  
"You stupid! See, because the tornado is out here, it doesn't just make it a tornado, it makes it into a giant dirt devil!"  
  
"A dirt devil?"  
  
"You don't know anything do you? It's a tornado with sand in it." The tornado in front of them got bigger and bigger.  
  
"Wow Lily, that's cool."  
  
"Yeah, you bet it is." And the tornado grew.  
  
"Don't you think you should stop it now?"  
  
"Don't worry, it stops in a little bit on it's own. See?" And as she said that, the tornado dissipated into nothing. "You worry too much."  
  
"Can we go home now?"  
  
"Sure." Lily held on to his hand to take him back. But as she was leaving, she felt a rumble under her feet.  
  
"What was that?" She looked around.  
  
"I don't know." The rumbling got louder. "Let's go." She quickened their pace. The ground trembled and began to shake them.  
  
"Lily, I'm scared."  
  
"Don't be, you wimp!" Lily reprimanded, covering up her own fear. She turned around to yell at him more, but found herself unable to.  
  
"Lily?" He slowly turned around himself and was met face to face with the Antilion. Both kids screamed and ran as fast as they could in the direction of the city with the Antillion fast on their trail. As soon as they reached the city, they tried to get the attention of their parents in the castle.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
It was the King of Alexandria's dyne powers that finally subdued the giant beast, the thought of his daughter in danger was enough to put him into a trance. But that didn't stop the Cleryian royalty from panicking after the event, and banning the little princess from ever coming to their city again. They had already gone though so much, they explained, that they didn't want to risk anything else ever happening again. Princess Lily was seen as an immediate threat.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"My god Lily, what in the devil's name were you thinking, starting a sandstorm in the middle of the Antilillion's nest?! You and Akira could have both been killed, do you realize that?" The flustered queen paced around the room while her little girl sniffed and wiped her wet eyes with her arm.  
  
"I'm sorry mom, I didn't think anything bad would happen."  
  
"But it did happen, Lily, and you can't take that back no matter how sorry you are. You have to learn that you can't just do whatever you want, when you want."  
  
"I'm sorry mom." Garnet's face softened.  
  
"Come here darling." She outstretched her arms to her daughter and embraced her. She felt her own set of tears brim against her eyes. "Please promise you won't do anything like that again."  
  
"I won't, I promise mom."  
  
"I was so scared. You're my precious little girl and if anything would happen to you." Tears fell from the queen's eyes.  
  
"Mom, please don't cry. I won't do anything bad ever again." The door opened behind them to reveal Lily's father.  
  
"Can I talk with her a second?" Garnet nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes and exited the room. Feeling less tense with her father in the room, she asked the question that was truly making her cry.  
  
"Daddy, will I ever see Akira again?" Zidane was taken aback by her question, what was he going to tell her? Regretfully, he chose the hardest, but most honest answer.  
  
"No Tiger, I don't think so." The child wailed as loud as she could and threw herself onto her bed.  
  
"But he's my bestest friend!" She sobbed louder.  
  
"I know, I know, but after what happened, Cleyra isn't.. well. receiving you quite well."  
  
"But there has got to be some way that I can talk to him." Grabbing the nearest pillow, she smothered it against her, trying to derive comfort from it.  
  
"Well, there might be someway." Her crying ceased instantly.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well you remember the way that we got to Cleyra?"  
  
"Yeah, through the Gargan Roo."  
  
"Do you promise not to tell your mom or anyone else what I'm going to tell you?" The princess nodded vigorously and moved to the edge of her bed to listen to her dad better.  
  
"In the side of the cart, there is an invisible latch that opens to a small little pocket. It's just big enough to store letters in it."  
  
"You mean I could write letters to Akira that way!?" Her dad nodded. "But how would he get them?"  
  
"I have someone in Cleyra that I could have tell him about it."  
  
"But I don't really know how to write well, I don't want to sound dumb."  
  
"We'll get Doctor Tot to teach you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really." The princess leapt off her bad and hugged Zidane.  
  
"I love you daddy."  
  
"I love you too, Tiger Lily." He kneeled down to be eye-to-eye with his daughter and put a finger on her lips. "Between you and me, no telling mom."  
  
"Okay, but how did you know about it in the first place?" Zidane laughed.  
  
"I used to send love letters to your mom through there when she visited other kingdoms." Lily giggled.  
  
"You wrote love letters to mom?"  
  
"All the time."  
  
"Did she write back?"  
  
"Of course she did."  
  
"What kind of things did you say?"  
  
"I told her how much I loved her, and missed her, things like that."  
  
"Can I read them?" Zidane's face turned tomato red.  
  
"Umm. maybe later." Lily laughed at her dad's reaction.  
  
"Daddy's embarrassed!" She taunted in a singsong voice. Zidane cleared his throat.  
  
"So anyways, about learning how to write."  
  
Yeah, defiantly not my best but hey, I had fun writing chapter six, so you can look forward to that after an. interesting chapter five. ()-_- Love you all, and please review! *^_^*  
  
-Mimi- 


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